Latest Delta News

[WillieBluffU]

I have not seen anything on the news about Chautauqua at all. I know that Comair is having some problems and a strike still looms there. My concern about any of the Delta regional carriers is a sympathy strike. We are 3 weeks out and would really love to not have to worry about this

[SherriZ366]

Just booked Continental for my Alaska cruise in August. Hope Delta lives as they have lots of service to Savannah but don't want to stress about their striking. I did enough of that for our flight to NYC last weekend for a wedding. We've been through this before with US Airways and other carriers with the the strike threat.

[zqvol]

Stop worrying, Delta is not going to go out, becasue if the pilots or anyone else goes out Delta will likely cease to exisit and none of the unions will be so foolish as to costs all its members their jobs on a permenant basis.

[lauren0309]

Things do no look good for Delta. They are in arbitration right now. I'm booked on them to go to Florida on April 17th they will come to a decision by April 15th. If they do go on strike I will have to scramble to find another airline to get down to Florida.

[danfiveoh]

Things do no look good for Delta. They are in arbitration right now. I'm booked on them to go to Florida on April 17th they will come to a decision by April 15th. If they do go on strike I will have to scramble to find another airline to get down to Florida.

 

We fly back from SJU on Delta April 7th. Looks like we might make it in under the wire!

[Globaliser]

YIKES! Load factor of 50% and single digits. WOW!. Are 20 year old aircraft at all fuel efficient?

OK, there's some slightly more concrete information now about MaxJet's and EOS' load factors.

 

In January, the combined load factor for these two airlines was 32%. Between them, they carried 2,726 passengers while operating 8,484 seats. Reports here and here. This was already an improvement on December (2,563) and November (2,201).

 

The figures are for the route, so although it can confidently be said that these are the only two airlines flying the route, the load factors for each airline can't be confidently extrapolated. I will do a little work on this later. Nevertheless, it's still a pretty sorry figure.

[Globaliser]

The figures are for the route, so although it can confidently be said that these are the only two airlines flying the route, the load factors for each airline can't be confidently extrapolated. I will do a little work on this later.

January has 31 days.

EOS aircraft has 48 seats.

MaxJet aircraft has 102 seats

 

Basic numbers check:-

January potential seats flown = 31 days x (48+102 each way) = 9300

Less 4 Saturdays not flown by MaxJet x 102 each way = 816

Total seats flown = 8484 (ie as quoted by the reports)

 

EOS seats flown 31 days x 48 = 2976

Maxjet seats flown 8484-2976 = 5508 (alternatively, (31-4) x 102 each way = 5508)

 

Assume EOS load zero

MaxJet flies all 2726 pax

MaxJet load 2726/5508 = 49.5%

 

Assume EOS load 5 pax each way x 31 days = 310

Maxjet flies 2726-310=2416

MaxJet load = 2416/5508 = 43.9%

 

Assume EOS load 10 pax each way x 31 days = 620

Maxjet flies 2726-620 = 2106

MaxJet load 2106/5508 = 38.2%

 

So even if MaxJet carried every single passenger on that route and EOS flew empty all month, MaxJet's load factor would still have been (just) under 50%. Realistically, it looks like it's in the mid-to-high 30's.

[lauren0309]

I'm keeping up with the news on Delta on a daily basis. Things do not look good. I have insurance so I will be reimbursed if there is a strike but I still want to get to my destiination. (Taking my son to disneyworld before me and my husband go alone on our cruise in January) I don't know what my options are in the meantime? I dont know if I should book with another airline? If I do, and there is no strike I will be out that money that I paid or can I get vouchers to use for future use? And if they go under what good will the vouchers be then? I am undecided as to what I should do? My trip is scheduled for April 17. Any ideas?

[celmed]

Lauren, hang tight. Even if the pilots' contract is rejected, there is a 30-day cooling off period before they can strike. So you'll be back home before anything happens.

Doubt that your trip insurance covers Delta for work stoppage -- I don't know any that are right now.

[lauren0309]

That's comforting to know. So if they announce a strike tomorrow I have 30 days till they stop flying. Is this correct? I just thought once a strike is announced they go out like the MTA did.

[zqvol]

Two things to remember, it is very doubtful that your trip insurance will cover a Delta strike, and two if any Delta union strikes Delta is gone forever and all of those people are out of work . . . . . in other words very unlikely that it will happen.

[celmed]

TSo if they announce a strike tomorrow I have 30 days till they stop flying. Is this correct?

 

That is correct to my understanding. But as others have said, I think Delta and the pilots will come to an agreement soon, and all of us can rest easier (I have a trip to Rome booked on 5/19, so you can imagine my discomfort!)

[cusyl]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/conws/3740959.html

[Globaliser]

It's only a Delta press release, re-printed word for word.

 

Moving capacity from domestic to international won't automatically mean that the new international operations will be profitable. Particularly as Delta's products are now lagging some way behind much of the competition.

[lauren0309]

Here is an update:

 

Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots reiterated Wednesday that they would reject the bankrupt company's proposal to cut $305 million in annual pay and benefits in a vote, their union's chief negotiator told arbitrators.

Pilots with low seniority would vote against the offer because they might be laid off as Delta shifts more flights to commuter airlines, Tim O'Malley of the carrier's Air Line Pilots Association said at a hearing. Senior pilots would turn it down because they're not being offered enough compensation for pensions that may be terminated, he said.

''The structure of this agreement is such that it cannot be ratified,'' O'Malley told the arbitration panel in Washington.

Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier, and the union are presenting arguments to the panel this week in an attempt to resolve their dispute over concessions in a new contract. The arbitrators will decide by April 15 whether the carrier can impose new terms on the pilots. The union, which represents about 6,000 active Delta pilots, has threatened to strike if that occurs.

[lauren0309]

A union executive on Friday warned customers of Delta Airlines to "think carefully" about flying with the bankrupt airline if it is allowed to void its pilot contract, a step that would almost certainly trigger a strike by Delta's 6,000 rank-and-file aviators.

 

What exactly does this mean to "think carefully".?

[Globaliser]

What exactly does this mean to "think carefully".?

When you have no idea whether the airline will be flying - or even still in existence - it must be a bit like "think before you put the coins in the slot, and think again before you pull the handle". :D

[lauren0309]

Well my coin is in the slot already. I bought tickets about 6 months ago for April 17th. I guess the only option is to wait and see what happens.

[LEtue]

Well my coin is in the slot already. I bought tickets about 6 months ago for April 17th. I guess the only option is to wait and see what happens.

 

My schedule isn't as tight as yours since I don't fly until the end of May. I bought my tickets about 8 months ago and was glad to get the great flights and price....until the strike news started. I have been watching this thread and hopefully I will have time to buy something on another airline if necessary :mad:

[lauren0309]

I have insurance and the insurance company said they will reimburse me in case of a strike so now its a waiting game. Hopefully if they go on strike, I will know soon so I can rebook on another airline.

[lauren0309]

Panel scolds Delta, pilots

'This is your mess, you fix it,' arbitrator says

 

By RUSSELL GRANTHAM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/24/06

WASHINGTON — Calling the past two weeks of hearings a "shameful exercise," an arbitrator in the contract dispute between Delta Air Lines and its pilots told both sides to immediately resume talks on a consensual deal rather than make his panel hand down a decision.

 

"You both got us here, this is your mess, you fix it," arbitrator Richard Bloch said in a scathing conclusion to the hearings, which wound up Thursday. "Because, unlike us, when you go home, you're going to have to live with this."

 

Bloch said the two sides should start talks "today, tonight" toward reaching a deal before his panel's April 15 deadline for ruling on whether Delta can void the pilot contract and impose more than $300 million in annual cost cuts. Pilot union leaders have said they expect a strike if the airline imposes terms.

 

Bloch said the three-man panel will issue a ruling if it must, but he told the two sides that would amount to an "abandonment of responsibility that will and should haunt all of you."

 

Reading from a statement on behalf of the panel, Bloch quoted a hearing witness who said leadership means not being able to "unvolunteer" in a crisis. He added that "if the parties here allow us to write this opinion, you both will not only have unvolunteered, you will have bailed out."

 

Delta and the Air Line Pilots Association submitted their dispute to the arbitration panel after failing to meet a March 1 deadline for a new long-term contract agreement. ALPA is offering about $140 million worth of cuts, less than half of what Delta says is needed for its Chapter 11 recovery plan to work.

 

Despite missing the March 1 deadline, nothing has prevented Delta and ALPA from continuing talks.

 

"This is a shameful exercise by two groups who, it appears, have bargained successfully in fat times," Bloch said. "But in hard times the talk turns to nuclear options — shredding the labor agreement, eviscerating pensions, striking the company and generally taking actions that challenge ... a 65-year relationship."

 

Over the past two weeks, lawyers and representatives argued for the two sides' respective positions. ALPA says Delta's demands are too high and unfair; Delta says they are fair and critical to its recovery.

 

Bloch said the panel members saw "real flaws, oversights, exaggerations and shortcomings" in both sides' arguments. If forced to decide the case, he said, "we'll be choosing the less unpalatable plan."

 

Bloch said pilots, whose pay rose almost 35 percent from 2000 to 2004, got "an unprecedented, and very rich contract" that was signed just as the airline's financial crisis began in 2001.

 

He added that "management, too, has done very well for itself," noting the big bonuses and bankruptcy-proof pension trust funds the company gave top executives in 2002, amid losses and job cuts. While those executives have since been largely replaced by new management, he called such perks "both lavish and beyond reason, and, considering their timing, inexplicable."

 

Despite the withering criticism of both sides, Bloch said his remarks were "not intended to disparage," and he offered the arbitrators' help in forging a deal.

 

To prod progress, he told the parties to submit confidential progress reports on April 3 and 7.

 

"You need to get back to your committees. You need to get down to it now, privately," he said.

 

ALPA Chairman Lee Moak said afterward that "the ball is in the company's court. It takes two parties to negotiate, and they haven't negotiated to this point. We'll see if the panel's words can bring them to the table willing to negotiate in good faith."

 

A quick return to negotiations "is certainly the company's hope and expectation," said Delta financial chief Ed Bastian. "I would expect there to be talks as the panel suggested ... as soon as we can organize them."

 

The unusual hearings were set up by a temporary deal in December that cut pilots' pay by 14 percent and suspended Delta's motion in bankruptcy court to void the contract. Delta filed for Chapter 11 protection six months ago and began seeking a new round of pilot cuts about the same time. It went to court to void the contract after initial talks failed.

 

In late 2004, it had negotiated a $1 billion-a-year concessions deal, including a 32.5 percent wage cut for pilots. Delta has also imposed two pay cuts, job and other cutbacks on non-contract workers between then and now.

 

ALPA argues that Delta's demand for a long-term 18 percent cut — which would supersede the temporary December cut — would put disproportionate pain on pilots.

 

The airline contends both pilots and other groups would be contributing proportionate amounts to its recovery plan.

 

The arbitration panel can only decide whether to void the contract or reject the company's motion to do so. Bloch said risking such an all-or-nothing decision "is cynical, it is myopic and it is absurd."

 

Reacting to the panel's criticism, Bastian said: "I respect their opinions. I think it is a very difficult situation for both parties and I respect the enormity of the task ahead of us."

__________________

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[LEtue]

I have insurance and the insurance company said they will reimburse me in case of a strike so now its a waiting game. Hopefully if they go on strike, I will know soon so I can rebook on another airline.

 

I have insurance too so I better check my policy.

 

The deadlline for Delta and the pilots is April 15 so it won't be long before we know. I'm glad that I'm not traveling until 6 weeks after that. Who knows - maybe I'll catch a sale :p

[lauren0309]

I called Delta yesterday to ask about getting a a voucher to use another time. They said it will cost me $50 each ticket and I could use the ticket within one year. I was thinking of doing this to take away from the stress of not knowing if I will be able to fly on April 17th. The problem is I can't find any airfare sales yet. I'm looking for a flight out of either JFK, Newark or LaGuardia to Orlando. Maybe they will have 14 day in advance purchase sales soon.

[hdawson]

Lauren. AirTran, currently in a sale, offers service from all three of those airports.

[lauren0309]

I checked the sales on Airtran. They are cheap going, but coming back is another story. I'll just have to keep checking flights back to see if I can get anything cheaper. Thanks.